As the observance of Veterans Day on Monday, Nov. 11 approaches, the Catholic War Veterans (CWV) organization is conducting a statewide recruiting drive and wants prospective members to know that despite its name, you don’t have to have served in a war to join.
“That requirement has changed,” said Mary Ann Janning, commander of CWV Post 1936. “Anyone can join who is a baptized Catholic, has served in the armed forces, including the Reserves and the National Guard, for 90 days or more of active duty and has been honorably discharged.”
Janning was in the Air Force from 1978 to 1982 and joined the CWV in 2012.
The CWV also has an auxiliary open to men and women. A member must be a baptized Catholic and be related to a living or deceased veteran within two degrees – that is, be a veteran’s parent, spouse, sibling, grandparent, aunt or uncle. This can include step-relatives.
The post, founded in the 1990s, is one of 17 CWV posts in Ohio, located mostly in the dioceses of Cleveland, Youngstown and Toledo and including one at the Ohio Veterans Home in Sandusky. There also is an at-large post open to anyone in Ohio.
The state’s first CWV post was founded at the end of World War II in 1945. There are about 900 CWV members statewide.
The state commander is Michael Blau, a cousin of Father Thomas Blau of the Columbus St. Patrick Priory. The state CWV’s annual Corporate Communion was on Sunday, Sept. 8 at an outdoor Mass at Euclid Our Lady of Lourdes Church.
Post 1936 meets after the 8:15 a.m. Mass on the second Saturday of each month at Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church, 313 N. State St. Dues are $35 annually.
The post has about 40 members and, as in most veterans’ organizations today, the majority of them served during the Vietnam War era.
“COVID had a considerable effect on us, as it did for most organizations, but in the last couple of years we’ve been able to resume most of our programs,” Janning said.
“One of the post’s main activities for years has been visiting and supporting patients at the Veterans Administration hospital in Chillicothe. We visit the hospital four times a year for lunch and bingo and to talk with the patients and listen to their stories. We also have an annual spaghetti dinner there.
“We provide ‘goodie bags’ for arriving patients which include shaving cream, personal care items, colored pencils for drawing and activity books. We also bring those bags on our visits and send goodie bags and Rosary bags to troops on active duty overseas.”
Janning said other CWV activities include providing $1,000 college scholarships to four high school seniors each year; placing flags on veterans’ graves at St. Joseph Cemetery in Columbus, sometimes in partnership with Scouting USA or American Heritage Girls units; and donating and placing 10 memorial wreaths at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens as part of Wreaths Across America.
In addition, the post helps the Knights of Columbus in Delaware County with a golf outing benefiting the annual Central Ohio Stand Down for homeless veterans; sponsors a Keep Christ in Christmas coloring contest; takes part in Honor Flight Columbus events; conducts flag retirement ceremonies; offers spiritual bouquets for the pope; teaches flag etiquette; provides funeral and wake honor guards and helps veterans prepare benefit claims.
Every two years, it takes part in a statewide veterans’ conference sponsored by the Ohio Department of Veterans Affairs.
The national CWV, based in Bellerose, New York, was founded in 1935 by Father Edward J. Higgins, has about 7,500 members and is one of three federally chartered veterans’ organizations with a distinctly religious nature. Its auxiliary also was founded in 1935 for women and became the first such unit of a major veterans’ organization to open its membership to men.
“Founded on the cornerstone of faith, the organization’s ethos is deeply rooted in the Catholic tradition, fostering a sense of camaraderie, compassion, and duty,” the organization’s website says. “Through their actions and initiatives, they exemplify the teachings of their faith by providing support, advocacy, and resources to those who have served their country, reflecting the belief in service to others as a core tenet of Catholicism.”
“If we can get more members, one thing we want to do is increase our presence at the VA’s Chalmers Wylie ambulatory care, behavioral health and veterans’ outpatient centers in Columbus,” Janning said. “We’ve always helped at the Chillicothe VA hospital, which has been around since the 1920s. The Wylie center is relatively new, having been built in 2008, and we have been encouraged to be more active there.
“Having more members also would mean more camaraderie with people that have gone through some of the same experiences, which ultimately leads to friendships and emotional support.”
Arminda Crawford of Galena, a member of the Women’s Army Corps from 1966 to 1968, joined the CWV in 1999 and became the organization’s national commander from 2015 to 2017. She is the only woman to hold that post.
“In those two years, I was able to help the families of many veterans across the nation in time of need,” she said. “That was the best thing about being national commander.”
“The Catholic War Veterans and its auxiliary in Ohio have an 80-year tradition of serving veterans and their families, parishes and communities,” Crawford said. “You can count on us to continue our service to them.
“With that in mind, the officers of both organizations look forward to working with all Catholic veterans to building a bigger, stronger, more vibrant Catholic War Veterans and auxiliary. Join us in our campaign.’
The Ohio CWV’s membership drive is taking place through ads in The Catholic Times and other Ohio diocesan newspapers and on the state’s Catholic radio stations and mailings to Ohio’s 775 Catholic parishes and to CWV members.
More information on the CWV and membership may be obtained by calling (614) 221-7601, emailing ohiocwv@sbcglobal.net, going to the organization’s website, cwvohio.org or mailing Catholic War Veterans, 35 E. Chestnut St. #510, Columbus, OH 43215.